NowInfinity unveils streamlined SMSF transfer capability for UK pensions

Australian regtech NowInfinity has released a new SMSF Trust Deed function designed to enable the swift transfer of UK pensions into an Australian self-managed super fund (SMSF).

The newly released SMSF Deed, a legal document setting rules for how a fund is governed, has been designed to fully comply with the UK’s Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (ROPS).

ROPS is a compliance framework for overseas pension plans (including Australian) that confirms that these funds meet the required standards set by the UK’s taxation authority, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HRMC). Clients transferring into a ROPS-qualified fund can avoid exposure to a potentially punitive UK tax rate.

The addition of the SMSF Deed to the NowInfinity platform ensures financial professionals can more easily transfer qualified clients’ (Australian residents aged 55 years or older) UK pension into an Australian SMSF; a ROPS-specific deed previously required legal review, adding time and cost to this process.

For the many Australians who have lived and worked in the UK, the process of transferring UK pensions to Australia has often proved both complex and costly.

NowInfinity general manager Kate Anderson welcomed the addition of the ROPS-specific deed, which she said demonstrates the regtech’s “ongoing commitment to provide legal documents and compliance solutions that drive productivity and empower financial professionals to better serve their clients”.

“NowInfinity is helping to simplify this process for our clients and their customers,” she said.

In addition to the SMSF Trust Deed, NowInfinity also noted two notable enhancements to its SMSF pension documentation, including:

• a more flexible pension commencement document package (which includes a pension agreement and product disclosure statement) for both Account-Based Pensions (ABP) and Transition to Retirement Income Streams (TRIS);
• a new annual pension payment document package (which includes documents such as the member request letter, letter from the fund acknowledging the request, minutes etc) to streamline the management of annual pension payments.

NowInfinity, acquired by Class in 2020, is a specialist cloud-based corporate compliance and legal document provider, with tools to support rapid company formation with ASIC and compliance tools and legal document templates for entity establishment and management.

The platform boasts more than 70 “legally backed, high-quality documents” for entity creation and other regulatory deeds, as well as Australia’s first online trust register.